Page 54 of Tough Love

“You heard me. You’re back on the equine roster, permanently. Must have been a hell of a favor you did him or them. Who knows with you city girls.”

I ignore my heart flinging against my ribs and step toward him. He sinks on the desk, one leg bent over the edge as he leans back on the wall.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? This may be a small town, Justin, but you don’t go around shooting your mouth off to employees about your business partners.”

His brows furrow for a second before he pulls a red apple from his pocket and bites into it. He chews for a while before swallowing. “It was Hudson, wasn’t it?”

I have never wanted to smash someone’s face with my knuckles as much as I do now. I stalk to where he still sits with a ridiculous smirk plastered over his face. “Watch your mouth. Or next time I’ll either let Sally hear your little rant or I will shut it for you.”

“I’d like to see you try, Howard.” He drops his gaze to my chest. He must be bitter about co-owning the practice. Does he want one hundred percent ownership?

Who knows, but he picked the wrong employee to take out his frustrations on.

“Maybe I will,” I say lightly.

“Oh yeah, what you gonna do for me?” He stands up and stands over me, so close his breath hits my face.

“Oh, I don’t know, perhaps I’ll stab you with propofol and then wire your jaw shut. Creep.”

I shove past him and make my way back out to Sally and the full waiting room. Right now, that’s the only place I feel safe. From now on, whenever he is around, I am going to have Sally with me and press record on my phone. When I slide into the empty chair behind the front reception desk beside Sally, my hands are shaking.

“Oh, honey, are you okay?”

I shake my head no.

“I heard what he said, love. Did you want me to call someone? The police?”

“It’s fine. Do I have any other appointments for today?”

“No, nothing until tomorrow. Then you have three equine visits. You’ll be out all day. You want me to blank out the rest of today so you can leave?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll grab the mace from my bag.”

She gives me a sympathetic frown before forcing a smile. I push up from the desk and make my way back to my treatment room. Not actually having any mace in my bag, I bypass the staff room and grab up some charts. I have three more patients to check up on before I can leave.

And I don’t want him to think he’s won. If he lays a hand on me, I will break his fucking nose.Miss Congenialitywas myall-time favorite movie growing up. Justin might get a singing lesson yet...

I chuckle to myself and walk to the back where the little overnight and short-stay ward is.

I am greeted by soft barks and meows. I do a set of vitals on Oscar, a German shepherd, before moving onto Squiggles, a ginger cat. He growls at me. “Calm down, buddy. Only here to make sure you’re okay.” When he relaxes a little, I pull him from his cage and pop him on the small metal table in the center of the ward. I need to check his stitches.

I run a hand under his belly, and he hunches up, growling low and steady at me. “Alright, almost done.” I lean down and lift his closest leg. His stitches are fine, the surrounding skin only a little pink. No slough or infection present. Excellent. I take him back to his cage and head to my last patient.

Rosie, a dalmatian who by anyone’s count should be long gone. She’s old. Almost eighteen years old, and for a big dog, that’s a long life. But her owners adore her, and she passed the kidney stone last night. I check her temperature and other vitals before checking her chart for urine count and records. As good as we can hope for this spotted geriatric. No more blood or ketones. So I give her a pat, and she wobbles on her feet to lick my hand. Such a sweet girl.

I return the charts to their home and grab my handbag. My phone lights up with a text. Ruby.

Okay, so don’t kill me, but I’m kind of at your house. xx

OMG! Your timing is perfect, I really need someone to talk to today. Be home in an hour.

Yay!! See you then.

I clean my treatment room as fast as my routine allows and head out. I don’t bother saying goodbye to Justin. He can go and screw himself as far as I’m concerned. I have no idea how Sally has worked here for so long with that twat. I close the door and head to the waiting room. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sally.” I wave and make my way to the front door.

“Oh honey, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

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